Muggle Camp
by phannah17
Summary: The war is over and the now opened Hogwarts has decided, in an entirely unconventional move, to bring together the students by hosting a muggle camp! And who else but Hogwarts favorite destined to be couple would be partnered together? DHr
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** _Hello my dears! So if you've read some of my other stories you'll have realized there's a huge theme of improbability and ridiculousness in them. That theme is here as well! As you guys know - who've read my stories that is - I enjoy writing humorous stories that are really only aimed to make you guys laugh. This is going to be an eight or nine chaptered story - not quite sure on that yet - that is going to be, hopefully, just some good fun. It's mainly DHr although there are mentions of other pairings - the same as the ones in Starkers. For those of you who don't know those pairings it's Ron/Pansy, Blaise/Luna, and Harry/Ginny. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this! This chapter is realy more of a setting up although it is rather long, but then again I expect virtually every chapter to be fairly long. Despite being a short chaptered story it's probably going to be a lot of words... Anyway I'm getting off track - main message, sit back, relax, and enjoy! Laugh hopefully too. I know I'll be laughing while writing..._

**Muggle Camp**

Chapter 1: A Dumbledore Worthy Plan

"Are they really serious -"

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"What the fuck is this?"

"Ronald!"

"What? Ouch! Watch your hand, woman!"

"Don't use that kind of language. There are little kids around!"

"Those little squirts? Oh come on, Mione, as if they haven't heard the word fuck before - OW! Alright, alright! Merlin, can't do anything around here anymore…"

Hermione Granger glared at the boy across from her, hands crossed over her chest and eyes narrowed vindictively. He glared back, one hand rubbing absentmindedly at the spot she had hit with her hand. If there was one thing he could say about his female friend besides that fact that she was frighteningly intelligent, it was that she had a rather hard slap - one that he had been on the receiving end of far too many times in his life.

"You really need to lighten up a little bit, Mione," he muttered crossly. "You'd think we were still fighting Voldemort by the way you acted."

"Ronald!" She gasped, her mouth falling open. "Don't make light of that situation like that!"

"I'm not!" He bellowed angrily, losing all patience with her. Ever since they had broken up a few months ago they had resorted back to their usual fighting. He couldn't say he had really missed that during their short month of dating, but he had found it awfully difficult at the time to keep up the appearance of a supporting boyfriend. She just aggravated him so much sometimes with her bossy ways.

She scowled at him and then turned away, sticking her pert nose in the air. He rolled his eyes, sending a quick exasperated look towards Harry who only smiled sheepishly in return.

Harry, as usual, had avoided taking any sides after their break up. In fact, he had seemed rather relieved that they weren't together anymore. Ron had briefly heard him muttering something about "just too weird…snogging each other - ugh!"

Ron personally felt he could have said the same thing in regards towards Harry and Ginny. Honestly, those two never seemed to let up on the snogging. If they weren't sucking face it was normally only because they were kissing other spots…

He shuddered. Bad imagery.

"You alright mate?" Harry asked casually, a concerned expression on his face. Ron nodded, not trusting himself to speak. No matter how much he approved of Harry and Ginny, she was still his sister. Seeing those two was occasionally just too much for his sensibilities.

"So what exactly is this anyway?" He asked when he became relatively sure his voice would be normal sounding.

Hermione glared at him another moment before turning back towards the sheet posted on their common room wall. Her eyes narrowed contemplatively as she studied it.

**__**

Attention all Gryffindor Students:

Given the events that have transpired during the past years the school has decided to host an annual **Muggle Camp **for one week.

The point of this camp is to help all Witches and Wizards to see and experience events that many Muggles partake in. By doing this, we hope that each one of you will come to appreciate Muggle cultures as much as you appreciate the Wizarding ones.

It is a time of rebirth for our world. Voldemort is gone and, in the hope that we can prevent something like that from happening again, we are determined that all students attending Hogwarts will come to a better understanding of Muggles and their immense value in society.

Muggle Camp will begin as of seven o'clock a.m. tomorrow morning. You will each be assigned a partner from a different House to partake in the activities with. If you are a pureblood, it is far more likely that you will be assigned with a student of a muggle background and vice versa in order to make the pairings more fair as there will be competitions taking place over which team manages to work best together in order to complete their goals. This _will _be graded as an assignment and all of the staff expects each student to take this camp seriously.

You will find out who your partners are in the Great Hall after your meal tonight. Please make sure to attend as you will be getting instructions on the first event you will be partaking in.

Regards,

__

Headmistress Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmaster Filius Flitwick

"How interesting," Hermione mused quietly, her brows raised slightly as she thought the idea over in her head - the more she thought of it, the better of an idea it became.

Once Harry had defeated Voldemort Hogwarts had immediately began planning for the numerous students that had missed their seventh year. Harry, Hermione, and Ron being three of those students had all agreed to go back and finish up their schooling in order to receive their N.E.W.T.s. Surprisingly, a great number of other students had returned as well, even in Slytherin.

Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy had been among those in that particular house to return. Hermione hadn't really minded the first two, considering she didn't know them that well, but the idea of Malfoy returning had definitely put a damper on her excitement. Surprisingly though he hadn't been that bad since school started. In fact, he had even started a rather tentative friendship with Harry. He, Harry, Ron, and Blaise had all even gone to the Three Broomsticks during the last Hogsmeade trip.

Hermione shrugged, deciding not to wonder too much over the strangely evolving friendship. She supposed she should be happy that the biggest bigot she had ever had the misfortune of meeting was managing to come around. However, deciding that muggleborns were not the scum of the earth hadn't stopped him from incessantly teasing her. She scowled, thinking over their encounters since his return. He wasn't necessarily malicious in his jests, but they did irritate her none the less. He seemed to have developed a penchant for making fun of anyone she went out with, no matter who it was. Even a simple study date with a fellow male peer seemed to cause him to feel a need to taunt the boy in question to such an absurd degree that last time she had sent her famous canaries after him. Unlike Ron, however, that had not deterred Malfoy in the least.

"Git," she muttered under her breath before turning back to the boys who were staring at her curiously.

She ignored the questioning gazes and sent them a brief smile. "Looks like we're about to have a week break from classes, Ronald. You should be happy."

Ron grinned, ignoring the sarcasm in her voice. "Sweet! I'm going to go tell Dean and Seamus!" With that Ron left with a whoop and darted up the staircase.

She rolled her eyes at his antics while Harry sent her a quick grin. "I'm going to go tell Ginny," he broke in, reaching out a hand to mess up her hair before walking away.

She let out a short squeal of protest that made him laugh. Rubbing down the hair that was now worse than usual, she glared at his retreating back before yelling, "I'll get you back for that , Harry!"

He turned around to flash her another grin before pressing the notch under the first step in the stairs that allowed him to head up to the girls dorm. Within seconds he had disappeared from sight, leaving Hermione standing there with several first years surrounding her.

She smiled brightly at them before walking over towards the table where she had all her books piled. She still had loads of studying to do before their N.E.W.T.s.

* * *

"Did you see that sign?"

Draco glanced up at the boy speaking and sent him short nod. "Yeah. Muggle Camp." He couldn't quite help the snort that escaped him. "Should be _loads_ of fun."

Blaise shrugged, taking a seat across from him and sprawling out on the couch. "I think it might be alright. Nice break from classes, anyway."

"I suppose," Draco replied somewhat skeptically. "The whole partner bit sounds annoying though."

Blaise grinned slowly, his eyes sparking with something slightly wicked as he glanced at the blonde boy across from him. "Well maybe you'll get lucky and get partnered with Granger."

Draco immediately glowered at him, ignoring the fact that a small part of him had hoped that would happen from the minute he had read that sentence. "Don't make yourself regret me saying anything to you, Blaise."

The dark-haired boy grinned charmingly. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Good," Draco returned shortly, his tone clipped as he stood up. "I'm going to go head to dinner. You coming?"

"Of course." Blaise stood up gracefully, his movements fluid as he walked towards the portrait hole. "Let's get this show on the road, yeah?"

"Can't wait," Draco muttered sardonically, following after him. If nothing else he supposed that the muggle camp would be better than a week of school. After all, how hard could any muggle activities be?

* * *

"Excuse me students! Can I have your attention, please?"

The Great Hall slowly quieted as Professor McGonagall stood patiently, waiting for them to be silent.

Hermione reached across the table and slapped Ron's fork away, ignoring his muffled protest. She jerked her head towards McGonagall, shushing him with a finger over her lips. He glowered at her before reluctantly turning towards the Headmistress, his mouth formed into a pout.

"Thank you," Professor McGonagall began once everything was quiet. She sent them a brief smile before continuing. "I'm sure that most of you read the signs that were posted in each House's common room today, but for those few who haven't I will reiterate what was said in the letter."

She sent the few students who were looking confused stern glares before speaking. "This next week will be comprised of what we are calling Muggle Camp. Each day you will join with your partner and work through the muggle activities we assign you. Our hope," she gestured towards herself and the staff, "is that by doing this you will come to learn an appreciation for muggle customs. This will be graded at the end and the partners that managed to work the best together will receive extra credit for the class of their choosing."

Minerva smiled at the outbreak of chatter amongst the students, several beginning to look more excited at the week to come. Inwardly she imagined how Albus' eyes would have twinkled at seeing the companionable attitudes the students were displaying over something like this. She sniffed once before interrupting them to continue with her speech.

"Alright, students, quiet down please." She waited a moment until it was once again silent. "As I said before you will each be assigned partners for the week. In the next few minutes each of you will have a piece of paper appear on your plates. On that piece of paper will be the name of your partners. Those partners are not changeable and I do not want to hear even the slightest peep of protest over who your assigned one is. Is that understood?" She fixed all the students with a stern glare, her lips pursed tightly. Once she saw most look away, resignation on their faces over her seriousness she clapped her hands together.

"Excellent. Now, remember that you need to be in the Great Hall by seven a.m. tomorrow morning." She smiled briefly at them, the lines on her face relaxing. "Sleep well. You'll need it."

With that final statement, she sat down next to Filius, the two of them sharing a brief, conspiritual smile. She was definitely looking forward to this week.

Hermione waited impatiently for the note to appear on her plate. She was well aware that she was most likely going to be paired with a pureblood, but as long as it wasn't…

"No way! You're kidding me!"

She looked up abruptly to see Ron staring down at his plate - for perhaps the first time in his life - with disgust.

"What is it Ron?" She asked with concern, leaning forward a bit.

He looked up, his face pale as he grabbed a small piece of paper that was residing on his plate. "Look at this!"

She jumped back a little as he thrust the piece of parchment in her face. Narrowing her eyes, she read the words written on it.

__

Pansy Parkinson.

She rolled her eyes at his annoyance, shaking her head. Pansy hadn't been so bad since she came back. In fact, Hermione had studied with her in the library last weekend for a Transfiguration essay and actually got a thank you at from her at the end. Personally, she thought that despite the Slytherin girl's bluntness she was quite funny.

"Oh honestly, Ronald," she replied with annoyance, shoving the note he was still holding in front of her face out of the way. "Pansy's not that bad."

Ron gaped at her. "Not that bad? _Not that bad_?!"

"Here we go," Hermione muttered under her breath, glaring at Harry who was smirking. "Now I just have to wait for his face to turn - there it is... That color."

Ron's face turned a brilliant shade of red as he began to work himself into his usual spluttering rage. "She's a Slytherin and she's evil! She called me a ginger the other day!"

Hermione fake gasped, bringing a fluttering hand to her heart. "A ginger?! Are you serious? Oh my God, Harry, did you hear that?" Without waiting for an answer she continued on, her voice continually growing into one of supposed hysteria. "We should lock her in Azkaban! Who cares about the fact that your hair actually _is_ red?"

Ginny, who was sitting to Hermione's left, snorted, sharing a quick grin with Harry. She had been rather pleased when Ron and Hermione broke up as well. She had missed their completely immature arguments.

Ron glared at Hermione, his face still flushed dangerously. "Well easy for you to say, Hermione," he spat crossly. "You're probably paired with a Hufflepuff."

Immediately Hermione's gaze snapped down towards her plate, having forgotten all about her unnamed partner during their argument. Grabbing the piece of paper she whipped it open only to read the name she had dreaded the most.

__

Draco Malfoy

"NO!" She screamed before she could help it, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the Great Hall. She looked around at the many people staring at her, her face flushing as she slowly sank down into her seat.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, leaning across the table to look at her parchment. "Who'd you get?"

Hermione wordlessly handed him the note, a solemn look on her face. Ginny snapped it from Harry before he said anything, reading over it and then laughing.

Hermione glared at her. "And just what do you think is so funny?"

Ginny snickered, looking down at the note with a grin. "You should see your face, Hermione! You look as though you're about to be led off to the gallows."

Hermione scowled. "I might as well be. I can't stand him!"

"Oh come on, Mione," Harry interjected, his voice consoling. "Draco's not that bad. We've gotten along rather well with him this year haven't we, Ron?"

Ron simply smiled, a smug look on his face. "Yeah, Mione. You shouldn't overreact so much."

A few moments later Ron found his face filled with the potatoes he had previously been eating.

* * *

Draco looked up as he heard Hermione shout "No!"

He watched with some amusement as her face flamed with embarrassment, her whole body sinking down into her seat.

And what a body it was, he thought with immense appreciation. He knew well enough that that little scene she had just had was over their being partnered together, but he, for one, was extraordinarily pleased with the results.

He couldn't exactly say when the first time was that he started liking Hermione Granger occurred. Perhaps it had been on the train when she had asked him in that rather haughty tone of hers whether or not he had seen a toad. He had been his usual rude self in reply, telling her to get lost, but she had simply glared at him before flouncing in the other direction. A small seed of something - respect, admiration, whatever - had been planted and later on only grew as he watched her in class.

Brilliant, he had thought when they were small. Absolutely brilliant even if she was utterly infuriating. He had been completely jealous that she was beating him in school, especially considering how hard he tried that first year. By second year he had been so angry with her for besting him that he had resorted to the derogatory term of mudblood. Much to his infuriation, the word hadn't even seemed to register with her. Instead she had simply continued glaring at him as if he was nothing more than an annoying bug.

Then third year had rolled around and she had given him that slap he could still remember all too vividly. He had been absolutely stunned by her and the sheer nerve she had displayed. He knew it was utterly ridiculous, but he supposed that was the point where he had began to fancy her. Apparently he was sick like that.

Fourth year she had managed to stun him yet again. It wasn't as if he thought she wasn't pretty because he had, it was just that that had never been the foremost asset she displayed. It had always been her mind and nerve that had attracted him. The Yule Ball had let him know that he was also immensely attracted to her physical aspects. He couldn't say that it had been her hair that had changed his opinion because really he enjoyed her hair the way it was. There was something amusing about the girl who had to have everything so neat having the most wild hair he had ever seen. However, having it sleeked back had given him a chance to really see her face.

She wasn't a Cho or a Ginny - not the type of girl that immediately caught your eye with a vivacious type of beauty. Rather, she had a more natural type of air, one that didn't need make-up or any type of enhancing. Her real beauty was in her eyes because her whole personality and intelligence seemed to shine through them. Alive was probably the best way to describe it.

Then there was her skin. He remembered thinking how incredibly smooth it looked, but really it was the flush that had caught him. She had just looked so happy that night - radiant, he supposed. As ridiculous as it sounded, he had felt like the moth being drawn towards the light. In that case though, he had been all too aware that if he had wandered too close, he was more than likely to have gotten zapped.

That crush had managed to carry all the way through till the point he was now at. He had never once acted on it, having far too many other issues in his life than to worry about a crush, but now that Voldemort was gone he had found himself once again drifting back towards her. He had been beyond pleased when he heard about her and Weasel's breakup, although he would never admit that, and then immensely annoyed when he noticed other guys being pleased as well. The fact that she had actually gone on several dates hadn't helped the situation either. Blaise had found his jealousy amusing, but he had only been infuriated. On some level he was aware that he had absolutely no claim what so ever on her, especially considering he had yet to relay his feelings, but the other side of him - the more dominant side - simply reacted upon seeing her with somebody else.

Needless to say she had not been pleased with his interference. In fact, he still had scratch marks from their last incident. Those damn canaries had refused to stop attacking him all day and Blaise, rather than helping him, had laughed hysterically over the whole thing. Apparently he had found the situation too amusing to stop.

Draco still owed him for that.

"Granger seems pleased," Blaise broke in, a grin on his face.

Draco looked back towards the object of his continual affections, a slow, wicked smile forming on his face as he looked at her still rosy cheeks. "Doesn't matter how she feels now," he informed Blaise smoothly. "What matters is how she feels at the end."

He stood up, grabbing an apple and flipping it up into the air before easily catching it and taking a bite. With another grin he began to saunter off, stopping at Blaise's question. "And how will she feel at the end mate?"

Draco smiled wickedly once again, turning his head back to grin at his best mate. "Pleased, Blaise. Very, very pleased."

With that he left an amused Blaise at the Slytherin table and began to walk swiftly out the hall, only to abruptly change his mind. With a smirk forming on his face he walked towards the Gryffindor table, a cocky sway in his gait.

Hermione looked up as she felt someone's presence looming over her, only to grimace with displeasure. "Malfoy," she spat as if saying an oath.

He grinned down at her. "Hermione." She glowered at that. He had taken to using her first name this year, despite a lack of permission on her part. "Seems we're partners," he drawled, spinning the apple in his hand.

She glared at him, wishing that he would leave. "I noticed."

"So I gathered," he continued, the smirk on his face growing, "based off your little temper tantrum."

Despite herself, she could feel her cheeks heating up. "Th - that wasn't about you."

His lips curved upwards, his eyes informing her that he didn't believe her, but rather than commenting he simply leaned a bit closer, placing one hand on the table to balance himself. She caught a whiff of cologne that she reluctantly admitted smelled quite nice. "Here's the thing, Hermione," he began with another charming smile that immediately made her wary. "I could really use that extra credit in another class as I'm sure you could so I was thinking a truce of sorts would benefit both of us."

Hermione studied him carefully, wondering what his motives were. She didn't really see why he would need the extra credit. She knew well enough that he was second only to her in their class, but it didn't seem completely unreasonable. Nodding, she quickly decided to agree. "Alright. A truce it is then."

"Great!" He smiled slowly again before sticking out a hand to her.

She stared at it reluctantly for a moment before reaching out to shake it. Rather than grasping it, as she had anticipated, Draco caught it swiftly and brought it up to his mouth in a motion so smooth she barely realized what he happened until her hand was laying limp at her side and Draco was walking out the door of the Great Hall.

She stared after him for a full minute, shock written all over her features before she turned back towards a snickering Ginny, an amused Harry, and a still eating Ron.

She blinked several times, feeling decidedly flustered before turning towards Ginny. "What just happened?"

Ginny grinned, reaching over to pat her on the shoulder in a comforting manner. "It seems that Draco just kissed your hand." At Hermione's blank stare she sighed. "I'm sure you'll figure it out in the end, dear."

The red-haired girl stood up, stretching her lithe body before sending Harry a smile. "You coming up to the dorms partner?"

Harry grinned, standing up as well. "Of course."

"Wait!" Hermione said, her brain suddenly kicking back into function mode. "You two are partners?"

"Yup," Harry replied, his expression cheerful. "I guess we got lucky."

Hermione and Ron both glowered at the same time, their expressions disturbingly similar. "Yeah, yeah," Ron muttered crossly. "Lucky you."

Hermione scowled, but made no comment. Why couldn't she have been partnered with Harry or even Ron?!

She glared up at the Professors, her eyes narrowing as they landed on Professor McGonagall.

Ugh.

This was going to be the worst week ever.


	2. Chapter 2

"Er - Luna right?"

Blaise shifted nervously as the small blonde girl turned towards him, her silvery eyes round and dreamy as she looked in his direction.

"Yes," she replied in a breathy voice. "Are the werkins asking?"

Blaise stared at her for a moment before awkwardly clearing his throat. "Uh no?" He watched her warily before continuing. "I was actually. Asking that is. For you."

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Inwardly he cursed, resisting the urge to slap himself. Since when had he been unable to form complete articulate sentences?

She blinked once, a movement that seemed ridiculously slow and drawn out. "Oh." She sent him one of those dreamy smiles of hers, an absentminded gesture he had seen her bestow on virtually everyone. "But you're not a werkin."

"No," he agreed slowly. "I'm not." At least he didn't _think_ he was, but then again he had no idea what the hell a werkin was.

She watched him for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Alright then. Goodbye Blaise Zabini."

He watched her walk off for a moment, his usually blank expression replaced with a slightly flabbergasted one before he recovered himself. "Wait, Luna!" He called, running to catch up.

She stopped, turning back towards him with one brow arched curiously. "Yes?"

"I actually came to talk to you because we're partners." He explained, deciding that his unusually flustered attitude from before was about to come to an abrupt halt. Instead, he donned his typical smooth demeanor. "For the muggle camp tomorrow. I was hoping we could come to an agreement on working well together." He smiled charmingly. "I could use the extra credit."

Luna twirled a lock of pale blonde hair around one of her long fingers, studying him with a curiously probing look. Before he could help himself he began anxiously shuffling his feet.

"Are sure the only reason you want to get along is for the Muggle Camp, Blaise Zabini?" She inquired, that same ridiculous dreamy look on her face. This time, however, he caught a flash of something else in her eyes. Something he would soon come to realize was the reason for Luna being placed in Ravenclaw.

"It's Blaise," he corrected, irritated with the way she used both his names. "And yes I'm sure. Why would you ask that?"

She tilted her head the side, a smirk that he had never associated with anyone except for Draco forming on her face. "No reason," she replied airily. "See you tomorrow!"

With that she floated down the hallway, humming a tune he had never heard before. He blinked once and then twice, feeling decidedly unsettled from the exchange. There had been something about that smirk…

Shrugging it off, he turned back and headed towards his common room. He supposed this week would be interesting if nothing else.

* * *

"Parkinson," Ron spat, drawing himself up to his full height.

She glared back, unimpressed with his display. "Weasley," she returned in an annoyed voice, raising one brow inquiringly. "Is there something you need?"

"We're partners," he declared crossly, folding his arms over his chest.

She waited a moment for him to continue before rolling her eyes. "Oh well thank you, Weasley," she returned in a sarcastic voice, "for that unknown bit of information. It's not as if I hadn't already seen that at supper or anything."

His blue eyes narrowed, anger sparking within him. "I knew you had seen it!" He hissed angrily. "I was just going to -" he broke off for a moment, looking mildly confused as to what he _had_ actually been going to do. "Uh…"

She tapped her foot impatiently, sending him another annoyed glance. Honestly, he may have been cute, but sometimes he was so daft. "Look, Weasley, I really don't have time for this. We're partners. Yay. I'll deal with it tomorrow."

She stomped off, leaving him standing there with a stupefied expression. Eventually his face turned red, aggravated as usual with the outcome of that conversation. Somehow she always seemed to get the last word!

He glowered before sulking down the corridor. He was going to best her one of these days. He just wasn't sure when.

* * *

Hermione woke up the next morning in a decidedly foul mood. She had barely gotten any sleep the night before because she had been so angry about her fellow partner.

"Argh!" She breathed angrily, stomping over towards her trunk and pulling out clothes for the day. Whipping them on, she pulled her hair into a sloppy bun and then promptly marched down the staircase.

She just _knew_ this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Draco stood by the staircase, resting casually against one of the pillars as he waited for Hermione. He grinned when he finally caught sight of her, huffing angrily as she stomped down the steps.

Wasn't she a sight for sore eyes, he thought with amusement as he looked over her outfit. She was wearing muggle shorts that were, in his opinion, a truly great invention, especially considering that she had some rather lovely legs. He noted, with no small amount of glee, that the shirt she was wearing had the words "Bite me" written across it.

Oh the things he was going to say about that…

"Hermione."

Hermione looked up, startled at hearing her name. The surprise was immediately replaced with annoyance as she met the gaze of the smirking blonde. "Malfoy," she returned sharply, attempting to step by him only to find her arm looped through his. She gazed up at him with astonishment, trying to pull out her arm to no avail. "What are you doing?" She hissed angrily, all attempts at escaping futile.

He sent her a innocent look. "What are you talking about, Granger?" He inquired with mock confusion, resorting back to her surname. "I'm simply walking us to the Great Hall."

"I can walk myself, thank you very much," she muttered crossly, still trying to free herself. After several moments of absolutely no results she gave up with a sigh. "Jerk."

He hid the grin that was threatening to develop on his face and casually removed his arm from hers to wrap it around her shoulders. When she made no move to get away his smile widened. Success, he thought gleefully. She would be his in no time at all.

"You should sit with me today," he proposed easily, steering her towards his table.

She gaped at him for a moment before breaking out of his hold. "I don't think so!" She replied adamantly, fixing him with a glare. Her attempt to storm away was halted as he grabbed her arm and simply propelled her towards the table. If anyone noticed her struggle to break away, no one mentioned it. Within a few seconds she found herself being shoved down into a seat across from Blaise, who had his brows raised, amusement in his eyes as he watched the little scene. Draco sat down next to her with a satisfied smile and immediately began putting food onto her plate.

She slapped his hand away, a furious expression on her face. "I can put my own food on my plate, thank you very much!"

He was undeterred by the venomous expression on her face. Instead, he simply grinned and placed another waffle upon the plate. "You don't eat enough, Hermione. Don't you know breakfast is the most important meal of the day?"

She was so angry she couldn't even speak. A muscle twitched in her jaw as she sat there, still as a stone. Blaise stared at her warily.

"Uh, Draco," he began warningly, keeping his eyes on Hermione. "I think she's going to explode."

"Really?" Draco asked curiously, turning to look at Hermione himself whose jaw was still twitching. "Huh," he said after a moment before reaching out to cut up a piece of her waffle. He picked up one of the pieces with her fork and held it in front of her mouth. "Open up, Granger."

Blaise buried his face in his hands, trying hard not to laugh at the mischievous expression on Draco's face. Honestly, anyone else would have been able to tell that the boy was simply trying to get a rise out of her. Draco had always enjoyed watching her get angry. Hermione was just too easy.

She hissed out a breath, her eyes sparking with fury as she turned towards Draco. "You absolute little pr- _mmph_!"

Draco shoved the waffle in her mouth, turning away from her with an unconcerned expression. Blaise snickered into his hand as Hermione's face turned livid. As soon as she had swallowed she opened her mouth again, "How dare yo - _mmph_!"

Blaise burst out laughing, despite his fear of Hermione breaking down and hexing them both in the nether regions. The look on her face was just too priceless to not laugh.

Draco grinned triumphantly as Hermione shot daggers at him with her eyes. He held the fork out to her, barely keeping it out of her reach when she went to grab it. "Eat like a good girl now or else I will just keep feeding you."

Hermione snapped the fork away, but didn't say anything. Instead, she began diving into her food as though she was a starved woman.

Draco, acting as though nothing had happened, turned back towards Blaise. "So you talked to Luna yet?" He inquired curiously, ignoring the fact that Hermione was stabbing her waffles so venomously that Blaise was fairly certain her plate was going to break.

"Yeah," he replied absentmindedly, still watching Hermione. "She said something about the werkins - no idea what those are - but I think we'll be alright."

Hermione looked up suddenly and sent him a glare that had him shrinking back in his seat. "Luna," she hissed, "is a very nice person and if you make fun of her I will _kill_ you."

Blaise blinked slowly before turning to look at Draco, who was staring at Hermione with obvious admiration. He turned back towards her with raised brows before cautiously nodding. "Alright…," he began carefully. "I wasn't going to make fun of her. I actually like Luna, even if she is odd."

Hermione relaxed at that, returning towards the murder of her waffle. Blaise mouthed the word crazy to Draco, who only grinned in response, a light laugh escaping him.

Blaise shook his head, watching the two of them from the corner of his eye. And to think he had once thought Millicent and Goyle an odd couple…

"Attention students!"

The Great Hall quieted as Minerva stood up, waiting patiently to begin. Once everything was silent she smiled. "I hope that you all slept well and are as excited as we are for the beginnings of Muggle Camp."

She waited patiently for the murmurs of either protest or agreement to fade before continuing. "Today the first activity that the school will be performing is a muggle sport called golf." She sent a stern glare at the students who immediately began chattering that quickly had them falling silent. "I'm sure that some of you know what the sport entails and you should be sure to inform your partners if they are not aware."

She waited a beat for continuing. "You shall all be split up by your years. The returning seventh years will stay with the existing seventh years, but beyond that all classes shall stick with their own. Each group will have a supervising teacher who will be overseeing you in case there are any problems.

"Once you are finished with your breakfast you are to go into the school's entrance and grab the specific port keys that have your names on them. They will take you to the golf course that you will be playing at where you will each find instructions on how to continue." She looked at them all, another smile creeping onto her face. "If you need anything you will find your assigned Professor inside the golf courses restaurant. Please take care, behave responsibly, and above all enjoy yourselves."

With that Minerva sat down, pleased that most of her students looked excited. Perhaps this would be the best idea their school had had yet.

"Alright, Hermione, lets go," Draco broke in, standing up gracefully as he reached down to grab her arm. She let out a noise of protest as he pulled up, her fury from before having yet to fade.

"Stop manhandling me!" She hissed, her face flushed with anger.

He, much to her surprise, stopped and turned back towards her with what almost looked like a concerned expression. "I'm not hurting you, am I?" He questioned quietly, a note of worry in his voice that she had never heard before.

Taken aback by the change in his attitude she simply shook her head negatively, watching his face with a curious expression. There was something entirely different about him when he wasn't smirking. Something almost…

Not going there, she thought immediately, shutting down any direction her thoughts were headed in. Definitely _not_ going there.

Draco waited for a moment, wanting to make sure he hadn't inadvertently hurt her before walking away, keeping his grip much gentler than before.

Hermione allowed herself to be led without protest, still slightly confounded by the difference in attitude he was showing.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to forget about it. If he could be so civil than so could she.

They walked out into the entrance of the school where a flurry of other students were disappearing. There was a mixture of excited and sullen faces, some looking so disheartened that Hermione had to hold back an uncharacteristic giggle.

Oh honestly, she thought with an amused smile as she took in Ron's face which was a curious mixture of red and green. And Ginny thought _she_ was the one who looked as though she was about to be led to the gallows…

"Weasley looks happy," Draco noted with amusement, grinning as though he had read her thoughts.

She sent him a brief smile in return. "Pansy doesn't look much better."

It was true. Pansy's face was just plain angry as she grabbed their portkey and then Ron's hand. He glowered at her for a moment before they abruptly disappeared, leaving Draco and Hermione staring a blank space.

"I hope they don't kill each other," Hermione said quietly, amusement still laced within her tone.

Draco grinned charmingly, waggling his brows at her. "They're probably saying the same thing about us."

She rolled her eyes, but the smile didn't leave her face as they walked towards their own portkey. Once they reached it, Draco turned back towards her with another crooked smile that was strangely attractive.

No! She thought angrily, unconsciously stomping her foot. Bad thoughts!

Draco raised one brow inquiringly, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Erm - should I leave you alone for a minute, Granger? Or would you prefer to have me stick around for your mental temper tantrum?"

She glared, eyes narrowing and reached over to grab the portkey. Smiling at his surprised expression, she grabbed onto his arm at the last minute, sending them both whirling into their first task.

* * *

Draco was irritated.

Scratch that. He was pissed.

First, they had arrived at the golf course to find that each group of partners was to be split into a group with two muggles. Apparently the golf course had had an overload of people and asked if it would be alright if they merged into larger groups.

Professor Flitwick, their watch for the trip, had immediately informed them that it would be an excellent learning experience if they were to play golf with the muggles. "You'll learn an even higher appreciation for them!" He had practically squealed, excitement flushing his cheeks.

It wasn't that Draco minded the muggles so much as he minded making a fool out of himself. Despite the fact that Hermione had attempted to explain the game to him, he hadn't been entirely sure how good he would be at it. After all, he had never played the game once in his life before and the whole thing seemed rather silly to him. Hitting little balls with sticks? Honestly, where were the brooms?

His irritation with the lack of flying had quickly faded as he discovered the wonderful invention of golf carts. Hermione had shown him how to drive one and he had quickly discovered at least one aspect of the muggles that he could grow to appreciate. Transportation.

The only issue he had with the carts was that they were two seated and Hermione, after driving with him through the first hole, had decided to switch with one of the muggles and ride with that man instead. Apparently he drove too fast and too recklessly for her to be comfortable.

He scoffed. They had been at least a foot away from that tree, despite her claims to the contrary. He wouldn't have hit it. He happened to have excellent control.

The smirk on his face died instantly as he glanced over to see Hermione, once again, speaking with that imbecile muggle - Brett, Bott, Bert, - he couldn't remember. Whatever his name was, the man was clearly incompetent and Draco did not appreciate, not one little bit, the way he was looking at Hermione.

Hermione snuck a glance over at Draco, her eyes immediately narrowing as she looked at the woman sitting next to him.

Ugh, she thought with disgust as she noticed the way that woman was _clearly_ fawning over Draco, who didn't seem even remotely bothered by it.

She scowled, ignoring the words Ben was saying to her. This whole trip had been utterly horrible since the first moment they got paired with their two muggle partners.

Ben and Kate were siblings and both were rather attractive as well as, although Hermione would only grudgingly admit it, charming. They had immediately accepted the idea of being teamed up with two people that they didn't know and Hermione had been grateful for that at least. Blaise and Luna had not been so lucky. The two people they had been partnered with had thrown a rather huge fit over the matter until Luna had suggested, in her usual dreamy tone, that people who complained were more likely to be hit with golf clubs.

Blaise, as well as the two muggles, had looked rather stunned at that proclamation while Luna had simply smiled, her expression serene.

Hermione and Ginny had both been forced to duck behind their golf bags in order to hide their laughter. Anyone who called Luna loony really needed to reconsider that opinion…

After that Hermione and Draco, along with their two partners, had began their golfing outing. Hermione had never been particularly good at the sport. In fact, that was an understatement. She was rubbish at it.

Her first attempt at hitting the golf ball had failed spectacularly. She had missed the first three times until Ben had, embarrassingly, come over and helped her swing the proper way. She had been mildly flustered over the fact that his front was pressed against her back, his hands on her arms in order to demonstrate how to swing, but luckily she had managed to hit the ball on her first attempt afterwards. He had sent her a rather glowing smile before taking his own turn and hitting the ball spectacularly well. Hermione had cheered for him, exclaiming over how good he was while Draco teed up.

Much to her chagrin, Draco managed to hit the ball on his first try with a grace she was fairly sure she would never be able to accomplish, even if she played golf for fifty years. He had smiled smugly as the ball went about fifteen yards farther than Ben's, who had congratulated him easily enough.

Then it had been Kate's turn, who also turned out to be a rather good golfer. After their original teeing off they had all traversed to their own spots, only for Hermione to find that once again she wasn't able to hit the ball.

Ben, apparently sensing her discomfort, had strided over and once again wrapped his arms around her to help her swing. She was positive her cheeks had been flaming, but if he noticed he hadn't said anything. Instead he gave her his patented grin, telling her that she had a lot of potential.

She had grimaced, sticking her tongue out at him before hopping into the golf cart she and Draco shared. He had glared at her for a moment, for reasons she was unaware of, before taking off so quickly in their cart that they almost shot straight into a tree. She had screamed quite loudly, shrieking at him to slow down while he studiously ignored her.

After that she had refused to ride with him and Ben had offered for her to go with him instead. She and Kate had all too willingly jumped at the chance to change. Hermione had, for reasons unknown to her still, found herself irritated with Kate's obvious infatuation with Draco. It wasn't as if Kate was some floozy with limited clothing. The girl was rather smart and Hermione had actually liked her up until the point she had seen her laughing and turning Draco's visor, which had been tilted toward the right, in the proper direction. He had smiled at the pretty blonde girl in a way that had had Hermione sinking back into her seat, fuming.

It wasn't any of her business anyway, she reminded herself sternly. Draco could go off with whomever he wanted. What did she care?

Her scowl deepened as she once again heard laughter drifting over from the other cart. Stupid, perfect, smart blondes and their stupid flirting ways towards other stupid, perfect, smart blondes!

Ugh!

Jumping off the cart she stomped her way towards the back and whipped her golf clubs out, heading towards the women's tee. She could hear Kate coming up behind her and resolutely decided to speak as little as possible to the woman in question. Stupid blondes.

Draco waited impatiently for Ben to join him, sending the man another narrow eyed glare as he watched him grin playfully at Hermione who smiled back in a rather shy manner. His grip on the club tightened dangerously as Ben came to stand up beside him, a jovial expression on his face.

"You want to tee off first, Draco?" He inquired pleasantly. "Or should I?"

Draco shrugged, his face expressionless. "Whichever. I don't care."

"Alright then," Ben agreed affably. "I'll go first."

Draco nodded his acquiescence, keeping his jaw stiff as he watched Ben swing. The ball swung through the air, landing about half way between their spot and the green. It bounced another twenty yards before slowing to a halt.

Draco, impressed despite himself, shot off a moment later and grinned when his went a few yards further once again.

Excellent, he thought with smug satisfaction as he noticed Ben's slightly annoyed look. Stick that up your pipe and smoke it.

Hermione noticed Draco's gleeful expression with a small tinge of amusement. She had always known he was competitive, but there was something endearing about the fact that it spread to muggles as well. If nothing else, she supposed it showed that on some level he did consider them equals because if he didn't, it wouldn't matter if he won or not.

Pleased with that revelation, she turned towards Kate who had already hit her ball. It landed about ten yards behind Ben's and a small, pleased smile rose on her face.

Hermione, determined to do better, set herself up squarely, remembering how Ben had showed her to do it. Gritting her teeth with determination, she swung back and let out a little cheer as her club connected with the ball. A moment later, the smile dropped off her face as she watched it sail a tiny bit behind Kate's and land directly in the water.

Glaring, she stomped towards the cart and waited for Ben to jump in before hitting the gas pedal. She stopped by the stream and jumped out, grabbing a club so that she could hopefully pull the ball out without using her hands.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get it?" Ben asked politely, clearly attempting to hide any of his amusement as she began trying to coax the ball out of the water.

She resisted the urge to glare at him, instead fixing a smile on her face and waving him off. "No, I can handle it," she replied airily, reaching in just a bit farther with her club. She let out a low growl when, rather than coming forward, the ball moved another inch back.

"Oh come on," she muttered crossly, leaning another inch forward. She almost had it…

"ARGH!"

Abruptly, she lost her balance, sending her toppling into the stream face first. Sputtering, she rose to the surface, mortification immediately setting in as she pushed her hair out of her face.

Slowly, she turned around to see three faces with a variety of emotions staring back at her. Each seemed to contain a mixture of shock, concern, and amusement.

It was the amusement that had her scowling.

Muttering under her breath, she went to jump out of the water only to find two arms reaching down and pulling her out. Within a few seconds, she found herself sitting on the ground, an amused Draco looking down at her.

"You alright, Hermione?" He asked, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he tried to repress a smile.

Hermione glared. "I'm perfectly fine," she responded crossly, standing up and trying to ignore the fact that her clothes were now sticking to her body uncomfortably.

He smiled slowly, his eyes raking over her in a way that created a decidedly odd tingling in her lower stomach. "I suppose not carrying all those books for once would throw you off balance," he quipped sardonically.

Her eyes narrowed once more, a scowl marring her features as she abruptly spun on her heel and stomped back towards her golf cart.

That, she reminded herself, was exactly why she was supposed to loathe him and not think about the fact that he had absolutely perfect teeth.

Draco grinned as she stomped away, that particular walk doing all sorts of interesting things to her body while she was soaked. He whistled cheerfully as he walked back to his own cart, jumping in gracefully and heading off behind Hermione and Ben.

"She's one of those graceful people, yeah?" Kate inquired with a small smirk, one eyebrow raised.

Draco stiffened, for reasons not entirely decipherable to himself. "Yes, she is," he responded shortly, his words clipped.

Something in his facial expression made Kate fall silent.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as Ben once again asked her that question. "Yes, Ben, I'm positive that I'm just fine." She couldn't quite help the annoyance that leaked into her voice. As if she wasn't embarrassed enough about the whole situation! To have it brought up ten million more times was just humiliating. She frowned unhappily, pulling out her t-shirt in an attempt to air dry it.

She couldn't exactly say why, but it really bothered her whenever she embarrassed herself like that in front of Malfoy. At first, she had assumed it was just a pride issue and her determination to prove that muggleborns were equal to purebloods, but as of late that seemed to have changed. It was more like when she had been so determined not to embarrass herself in front of Krum…

"You want me to drop you off at the women's tee off?" Ben inquired politely, breaking through her train of thought.

She nodded absentmindedly, jumping off as soon as he had stopped and pulling her golf clubs off the back. "Thanks."

"No problem." He grinned charmingly. "Just remember to wait to hit this time till we're done. You won't be able to see us up there and be warned if the ball's coming in your direction."

She vaguely registered what he was saying, most of her attention being taken up by Draco and Kate, the latter of which was once again messing with Draco's visor. She gritted her teeth, barely resisting the urge to snarl as Draco finally drove off, leaving she and Kate alone.

"Should we stand by these trees to keep out of the way?" Kate asked, gesturing towards a few pines towards their left.

Hermione nodded stiffly and walked over to the spot, the two girls standing in an uncomfortable silence for several moments before Kate broke it.

"So …" she began cautiously, shifting back and forth on her legs.

Hermione waited impatiently for a moment before prompting, "So…?"

"You and Draco then?" Kate inquired curiously, apparently working up the nerve to speak.

Hermione swallowed the impulse to say yes, rather alarmed at the overwhelming urge she had to do just that. "Me and Draco?" She let out a short laugh. "No. Never. We hate each other."

Kate studied her somewhat disbelievingly before finally smiling. "Alright then."

Hermione did not appreciate the sudden cheery tone in her voice. Scowling, she abruptly turned in the other direction, only to stop short when she heard a sudden whizzing sound, followed by a loud crack..

Her eyes narrowing contemplatively, she took a step forward, curiosity getting the better of her. She had time to hear Kate scream out something, causing a tingle of alarm to burst through her, before everything went black.

* * *

"Can't believe -"

" - could have died…"

"Thank Merlin the branch had slowed down its momentum -"

"Did you hear about Malfoy?"

" - went crazy on the muggle that hit it -"

" - heard they had to drag him off of him -"

"Wow. Who knew he had it in him?"

Hermione woke up slowly, the voices fading in and out as she regained consciousness. She groaned lightly as she made the mistake of trying to move her head. It felt as though someone had taken a frying pan to it. Hard.

"Hermione?"

She heard Harry's slightly frantic voice suddenly at her side, his hand latching onto hers. "Are you awake?"

She tried to smile, but feared it came out more as a grimace. "What happened?" Her voice sounded hoarse to her own ears.

"You got hit with a golf ball," she heard Ginny explain, her voice coming from the other side. "Luckily it had hit several branches before it hit you, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been."

The underlying worry she could her in their voices had her letting out a shaky, but hopefully reassuring laugh. "Must be the Irish in me," she joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"But you're not Irish," Ron replied with confusion.

If her eyes had been opened she would have rolled them. Just as she was about to make a retort, another smooth voice entered the mix.

"That was her lame attempt at a joke, Weasley." She stiffened at the mockery in his voice.

"Why's Malfoy here?" She inquired coolly, refusing to acknowledge him.

"Just walked in, Granger," he replied, his voice equally cool. "I knew you'd be thrilled to see me."

She scowled automatically, prepared to respond sarcastically when she was yet again interrupted. "We're going to go eat, Mione," Harry broke in, his voice gentle. "But we'll be back later, alright? Do you want us to bring you something?"

She shook her head, a small tinge of disappointment coursing through her that she studiously ignored. "No, that's alright. I'll see you guys later."

She felt a pair of arms abruptly come around her, a long curl of hair that could only belong to Ginny brushing against her face. Her voice was muffled as she spoke against her shoulder. "I'm glad you're alright," she whispered, the barest tremor in her voice.

Hermione smiled gently, reaching out to return the hug. "Me too. Now go eat and stop worrying."

The group laughed lightly as they exited, leaving Hermione along.

Or so she thought.

"So you are alright then?"

She jumped, startled to hear his voice and then frowned when she heard muffled laughter. "I'm fine," she returned stiffly. "No thanks to you, of course."

She didn't have to have her eyes open to see his posture go rigid. "Excuse me?" His voice dropped several degrees as he stepped closer. She could feel him standing directly over her.

"Well you could have warned me that a ball was flying in my direction," she broke in, her voice lacking the anger she had been hoping it to contain. For some reason the fury that was emanating off of him had her unusually flustered.

"Could have warned you?" The mattress sank down on either side of her, causing her eyes to finally open a smidgeon.

She found herself staring directly into furious grey eyes, both his hands placed on each side of her, trapping her in as he glared. She blinked, her throat suddenly going dry as he leaned a bit further towards her.

"_Could have warned you_?" He repeated, his voice now reaching an artic chill. "Perhaps," he said, his voice like a slap, "if you hadn't foolishly stepped out instead of staying behind the trees like you had been warned by that _idiot _muggle this wouldn't have happened!"

"And how," he continued after a moment of silence, "pray tell, did you expect me to warn you when I couldn't even _see_ you? Another thing you were explicitly told!"

She glowered at him, immediately bristling at his tone. "Maybe if you had better aim this wouldn't have even happened!"

He stiffened over her, his face going blank before it abruptly flashed with fury once again. She, despite herself, cowered back against her pillow at the look on his face. "I wasn't the one who hit that ball," he seethed, "but thank you for making that lovely assumption."

By the time that statement had sunk in, he was already at the door, flinging it open before abruptly slamming it shut and turning back towards her, rather than exiting. She watched with mild fascination as he obviously battled for control, even closing his eyes at one point.

Finally his breathing slowed, the angry color in his face fading as he slowly walked back towards her bed. She bit her lip, feeling stirrings of guilt for having assumed that he was the one who had hit it as well as having yelled him for not warning her. She wasn't normally so judgemental. At least she hoped not.

"I'm -" he broke off, his voice faltering before he continued. One hand gently reached out and ran down her cheek, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. "I'm glad you're alright."

He left before she could say a word.


End file.
